Change-speed gearing



G. F. POPE.

CHANGE SPEED GEARING. APPLIcAlou mw MAY3.1920.

1,410,347. Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

n Z FW Inwenor:

eor @Eff/ie G. F. POPE.

CHANGE SPEED GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY a. |920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. POPE, OF SKABZBONA, ILLINOIS.

CHANGESPEED GEARING.

Application filed May 3,

T o all whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. Porn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Shabbona, county of De Kalb, and State of Illinois. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Change-Speed Gearing. of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 'forming a part thereof.

The inrention relates to change speed transmission gearing, and has for an object the provision of a mechanism of this nature wherein the different pairs of gears will he always in mesh and therefore it will not be necessari` to slide gears together while revolring.

A\ further object 01' the invention is the provision ol transmission Igearing that Will he more compact than mechanism now used for a like purpose.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings. in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a case adapted to contain the mechanism: i

Fig. 2 is a central horizontal section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a detail section taken on line of Fig. 2, drawn to an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a detail section corresponding to portions of Fig. 3 showing the clutch mem,- bers thrown out of contact;

Fig. 5 is a detail section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3: and

Fig. 6 is a detail section, corresponding to a portion ot' Fig. 3. illustrating a modified form of clutch.

ln the Form of the invention illustratori, stuh shaft 10 is designed to he connected to an engine or other source of power, and stub shaft 1l to he connected to an)r device, as a propeller shaft of an automobile. which it is desired to drive at speeds bearing' different ratios to the speed ot stub shaft 10.

To transmit power from shaft 1 0 a gear 12 is shown rigidli`- secured thereto, meshing with a gear 1B rigidly secured to a countershaft 14. Also rigidly secured to shaft 14 there are shown `gears 15. 16 and 17, of different and suecessivelv greater diameters. ("oustantl)Y in mesh with gears 15. 16 and 1T, and therefore coutimiousl)r rotating in unison therewith. are gears 18. 19 and 20, which are loosel)v mounted on countershaft 21. To transmit rotation ot' countcrshaft 21 to stub Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1922. 1920. serial No. 376371.

shaft 11 there is shown a gear 22, rigidly secured to countershaft 21, and a gear 23 rigid' with stub shaft 11 and meshing with gear 22.

lith the arrangement described the countershaft 14. gears 15, 16 and 17 rigid therewith, and gears 18. 19 and 20 meshing with gears 15, 16 and 17, will be in continuous rotation when the stub shaft 1() is revolving. Under these circumstances it is only necessary to attach the selected one of gears 18, 19 or 20 to countershaft 21 `to cause this shaft and stub shaft 11 to revolve at a speed depending on the size ofthe gears 15, 16 or 17. and 18, 19er 2O.`Which are in mesh.

To attach one of the gears 18, 19 or 20 at will to shaft 21. a clutch for each of these gears. of the form illustrated in detail in Figs; 3, it and 5, may be utilized. In this form ot clutch shoes, as 24. shown as four in number, :1re brought forcibly into contact with the inner surface of the rim 25 of the gear, and hence the shoes 24 and parts connected therewith are forced to rotate with the gear. As shown, the inner surface ot the rim 25 of the gear is formed with. projections 26. separated by depressions 27, and the shoes24 are made, ofV a form complemental to the form of the rim.

To control the action of the shoes 24, there is shown a pin 28 rigidly secured to each shoe and projecting. radially through a Collar 29 secured to the shaft 21. and through a hole 301 into the shaft 21 which is shown as heilig holloiv. A T-shaped head 31 is formed upon each pin 28;

To actljrate pins 28a cam rod 32 is shown adapted to slide Within the hollow shaft and haring longitudinal grooves 33 therein, equal in number to the pins 28. The grooves 33 are each shown as having an enlarged interior at 34.-. so as to provide a cross-section complementari in form to the torni of each T-shaped head 31. To cause the pins 28 to reciprocate. the bottoms of the grooves are each formed into a` ram elevation. as shown at each cam 35 heing at the same longitudinal location upon the cam rod. Not onlyv the bottom but the entire cross-section of each groove partakes ot the radial displacement of the 0am form. lleiioe.ivlien the cam rod with the T heads 31 assembled is reciprocated in hollow shaft .21 the pins 25% o1 each gear 1R. l9 20. will in turn be positively forced out to cause the corresl'iondingchitcli to throivn in: and then will be positively drawn in to disengage the corresponding clutch.

By sliding the cam rodto the proper point any one of the gears can thus be brought into operation, and it is impossible to have more than one set of gears operative at any given time.' To pass from Vhigh to low or from low to high it isnecessary tol pass through the intermediate gear, but since such operation is merely a question of simple llreciprocation of the cam rod for a limited distance, and no gears have to be brought into and out of mesh, the action is not objectionable.

To permit the Wings of ithe T heads 31 to follonff'the Y'cam form of the'grooves 33, 34, the ends ofthese ,win s are slightly tapered, as shown at 36. D' oreover,l the depth of the portion 34 of these grooves is preferably increasedsomewhat in the cam portion, as shown at To provide a reversalof direction oi shaft 11 from the direction of rotation produced by gears 15, .16 ory 17 coacting With gears 18, 19 or 20, a. gear `38 is shown rigidly secured upon stub yshaft 1Q and meshing with a gear 39`looseupon shaft 2,1. Gear 39 is supplied With a clutch mechanism in all respects similarto that described in connection with gears 18, 19 and 20. When the clutch mechanism in connection With gear 259 is thrown into action to secure this gear to shaft 2l, the direction of shaft- 21 will be reversed, as stated. f y,

To close the space Within the rim of each gear 18, 19, 2O and B9, occupied by the clutches, plates, `as Ll0, 11, 42 and 43 11i-Ly be provided, preferably being loosely placed upon shaft 21 and heldin place` by the extensions 44, or 46 ofthe hubs of the gears, or, in the case of plates() and 43, by a collar i7 slipped upon shaft 21. To preserve the shaft 21 from endwise movement collars 4S and49 are shown secured-to the ends thereof outside its journals 50, 51.

To enclose the gear set a case 52, 53, is

shoivn as formed in two halves unitedby a flange 54, which may be bolted together and supplied with a gasket, in a Well known manner', thereby being made oil-tight. The journals 50, 51, 52a, 53a, 54E, 55, for the v arious shafts may be formed in the halves 52, 53, of the casing.

The end of the cam rod 32 is shown'l as provided with a collar 5G, having a circumferential channel 57 adapted to coact with an operating yoke 5S, in order that the rod lnay be caused to reciprocate by means of the yoke While freely rotating. l

A modified form ol clutch projections 5.9 is shown in Fig. G, which form will not produce so much end pressure on pins 28 as the form of Fig. 3. This or any of many other forms of projections might be used without departing from the spirit of my invention. I do not wish to limit myself to the exact arrangement of stub and countershafts shown, since many modiiications might be made in the arrangement of the shafting, as `Well, as in the iorms of the clutches and in other details of the physical embodiment ot the invention, the forms shown being illustrative only.

l claim as my invention- A change speed gearing` comprising, in combination, a power shaft having 'a plurality of gears rigidly secured thereto, a driving shaft having a gear meshing with one of the gears on said power shaft, a third shaft adapted to be driven from the driving shaft, a pluralityot' [reacting gears of (litten-int ratios, one gear of each pair loose upon one and the other gear of each pair rigidly secured to the other of said two last-mentioned shafts, an additional loose gear upon one of the last-mentioned shafts and meshing with one ot the gears on said power shaft, and means to secure a. selected one of said loose gears to its shaft and release the same therefrom while the gears are rotating.

GEORGE F. POPE. 

